Calling all Costco shoppers! Costco samples are not vegan. I took a trip to Costco today and was sorely disappointed not to have any samples. There were decadent cheesecake samples, seafood spreads on crackers, milk chocolates and bagel pizzas. Typically, I will try all of these, splitting them with my son (he’s a big fan of the bagel pizzas) but not today. Today, I had to say no. Am I disappointed, not really. I’ve tried these things before and even though most people love free food, it was a lot easier saying no because I’m trying to be vegan than to try and say no because I’m trying to be healthy.

While vegan food can be found at any grocery store, the larger variety of vegan foods can only be found at more specialty grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. At least, that holds true for where I live. I know that other communities have larger populations of vegetarians of all sorts, consequently, there are more food options available to them. I would love to see Costco sell tempeh in bulk!

Along the same thought of community expectations, in my region, there is rarely consideration for vegetarians when it comes to events. My specific experience is work. I have on occasion been privy to work-bought dinners. Nights when you’re working late and management wants to soften the blow that you aren’t home to eat with your family and say thank you for your extra effort, so they bring in food. I give props to my work, because the food is usually pretty good; however, it is rarely vegetarian. In fact, I had a recent experience where dinner was provided and the options were pasta with marinara and meat sauce, pasta with chicken in cream sauce or salad which had bacon in it. Even when I expect dinner to be provided, I still always bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just in case.